New Mexico Man Pleads Guilty to Child Exploitation

(Phoenix, Ariz. – Sept. 12, 2006) Attorney General Terry Goddard today announced a plea agreement with Robert Dennis Bixler, 49, of Socorro, New Mexico. Bixler pleaded guilty to one count of sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of luring.

In November 2004, Bixler met someone he thought was a 13-year-old girl named “Kari” in an Internet teen chat room. In fact, he was communicating with a sergeant with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.

He was indicted for sending child pornography to a minor and for attempting to set up a meeting with the young girl in Mesa. Bixler traveled from New Mexico to Mesa, where he was arrested by MCSO officers. At the time of his arrest, officers found a tiara, Tshirt and panties he was planning to give the young girl.

The arrest followed a joint investigation with the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office, which executed a search warrant at Bixler’s residence in Socorro where investigators found child pornography on his home computers.

Bixler’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for Oct. 18. He faces up to 20 years in prison and stipulated in his plea agreement that he would serve lifetime probation after his release. Assistant Attorney General Gail Thackeray is prosecuting this case.